Amazing Race 15 Episode 3 Recap

Dating Couple Marcy and Ron Eliminated in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Oct 4, 2009

The 15th season of CBS's popular reality series The Amazing Race continues as some teams maintain their lead and others fall to the back after a series of mistakes.

In Episode 3 of The Amazing Race 15, titled “It’s Like Being Dropped on Planet Mars,” teams traveled to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. After a series of costly mistakes, one team barely escaped elimination as three teams raced to the pit stop. Here’s a recap of how it all went down:

Next Destination: Ho Chi Minh City

Departing from the second pit stop at the Bassett III, a small riverboat, teams received a clue instructing them to make their way back to Ho Chi Minh City, also in Vietnam. Once there, they had to travel to the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theatre and retrieve their next clue from the mouth of one of the puppets.

Along the way, Nate “Big Easy” Lofton of the Harlem Globe Trotters revealed that he lost his father two days before the Race and that he is racing in honor of his dad. Marcy Maloy then revealed that her father was shot down in Vietnam in 1968 but recovered.

Justin and Zev spoke with locals to call a taxi for them, while Tiffany and Maria followed close behind them and got a taxi as well. Meanwhile, Lance and Keri struggled with the language barrier.

At the theatre, teams retrieved their clues from the dragon puppets. The clues were in the form of a bullet with a postage stamp inside. Teams then had to look for the building shown on the stamp, Ho Chi Minh City Main Post Office.

Retrieving their clue quickly, Gary and Matt decide to run to the building so they didn’t waste their money. Cheyne snuck up on the water dragon and quickly grabbed the clue, while Tiffany tried to blow kisses to it. Lance practically fell into the pool of water when he reached for his clue.

As the other teams headed off to their next destination, Lance and Keri confusedly searched for another clue because they didn’t realize the information they needed was inside the bullet.

Detour: Child’s Play or Word Play

At the post office, teams received a clue to their first detour of the season. The choice was Child’s Play or Word Play. In Child’s Play, teams had to travel to a local park and choose a concrete animal. They then had to transport it while picking up five balloons from vendors and deliver it to a children’s playground.

In Word Play, teams had to travel to a hotel and find an observation deck. Once there, they had to identify six Vietnamese letters moving within the congested traffic and get help from locals to spell out the word “DOCLAP,” which is Vietnamese for independence.

Marcy and Ron were the only team to complete the Word Play task, while all other teams made their way to the park. Justin and Zev convinced a local to accompany them and show them where the park was. “Flight Time” and “Big Easy” maintained their lead and arrived at the playground first, with Meghan and Cheyne close behind them. Lance and Keri once again missed their clue box, causing another argument.

During the task, Tiffany and Maria’s dolly broke. When Dan (of brothers Sam and Dan) tried to help them, they told him not to impede his own progress. Justin and Zev struggled to maneuver their giraffe. It tipped over due to its large size, shattering part of its head. Brian and Ericka made up a significant amount of time, while Tiffany struggled to pull the heavy animal herself. Lance and Keri lost one of their balloons and had to go back to collect another one.

Meanwhile, Marcy and Ron found their six letters, but had trouble coming up with the Vietnamese word. At first, they didn’t think to ask a local for help. Instead, they searched for the word among the streets, which cost them valuable time. Eventually, they asked a local and came up with the correct word but they were already in last place.

Roadblock: Chop Shop

At the Roadblock, one member of each team had to break down two VCRs using local tools. After all parts were disassembled and sorted, teams received their next clue.

Making yet another costly mistake, Lance and Keri got out of their taxi prematurely and went to the wrong location, while other teams got a head start on the task. The order of teams was relatively unchanged, with Harlem Globe Trotters “Flight Time” and “Big Easy,” dating couple Meghan and Cheyne, and father/ son Gary and Matt finishing quickly. Justin and Zev lost time, while dating couple Mika and Canaan and engaged couple Lance and Keri moved up in the pack.

Third Pit Stop: Reunification Palace

In another footrace to the pit stop, “Flight Time” and “Big Easy” narrowly beat Meghan and Cheyne when Meghan fell behind. They were teams one and two to arrive at Reunification Palace, the place where a Vietnamese tank crashed through the palace gates and ended the Vietnam War. The rest of the teams arrived in the following order:

It came down to a three-way race to the pit stop between Justin and Zev, Lance and Keri, and Marcy and Ron. Although Lance and Keri went the wrong way again, they arrived at the pit stop at the same time as Justin and Zev, and Marcy and Ron came in last. They became the third team eliminated from the Race.

When to Watch

The Amazing Race 15 airs Sundays at 8 p.m. EST on CBS. For more information on the new season, see the show’s official Web site at CBS.com.

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